Laura L. Smith - Anxiety For Dummies

11 Appendix: Resources for You Books about Anxiety Books about Racism Resources to Help Anxious Children Websites to Discover More about Anxiety

12 Index

13 About the Authors

14 Advertisement Page

15 Connect with Dummies

16 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 3 TABLE 3-1 Angst in the Medicine Cabinet TABLE 3-2 Medical Imposters

2 Chapter 4 TABLE 4-1 Gavin’s Anxiety Causes TABLE 4-2 Miguel’s Excuses versus Arguments Against His Excuses TABLE 4-3 Alaina’s Baby Steps to Success TABLE 4-4 Virginia’s Day-by-Day Anxiety Levels

3 Chapter 5TABLE 5-1 Feeling Cycle Chart

4 Chapter 6TABLE 6-1 Weighing the EvidenceTABLE 6-2 Developing a Reasonable PerspectiveTABLE 6-3 Switching to the Present

5 Chapter 7TABLE 7-1 The Anxious Assumption QuizTABLE 7-2 Cost/Benefit Analysis of Prudence’s PerfectionismTABLE 7-3 Cost/Benefit Analysis of Daniel’s Dependency

6 Chapter 8TABLE 8-1 Appreciating Flawed Friends

7 Chapter 9TABLE 9-1 What I’m Afraid OfTABLE 9-2 Leeann’s Exposure ProceduresTABLE 9-3 Chloe’s Exposure Procedures

8 Chapter 13TABLE 13-1 Useful Worries and Actions

9 Chapter 18TABLE 18-1 Responding to Reassurance Requests

10 Chapter 19TABLE 19-1 Does Your Child Have an Anxiety Problem?

11 Chapter 20TABLE 20-1 Modeling a Better Way

1 Chapter 3FIGURE 3-1: When presented with danger, your body prepares itself to flee or st...FIGURE 3-2: The chronic effects of anxiety.

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Table of Contents

5 Begin Reading

6 Appendix: Resources for You

7 Index

8 About the Authors

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We wrote our first book in the For Dummies series, Overcoming Anxiety For Dummies, shortly after the events of 9-11-2001. People felt rather anxious, especially about terrorism. We wrote the second edition in 2010 as the Great Recession was winding down. At that time, people were feeling particularly anxious about their finances and careers. Today, we present Anxiety For Dummies as the world struggles to cope with a global pandemic, an explosion of civil unrest and racism, climate change, and another potentially massive recession or depression.

So today’s world, just like the previous two decades, gives us plenty to worry about. But as we don’t want to become victims of a pandemic, financial setback, natural disaster, or violence, we can’t let ourselves become victims of anxiety. Anxiety clouds our thinking and weakens our resolve to live life to the fullest. We realize that some anxiety is realistic and inescapable, yet, we can keep it from dominating our lives. Even under duress, we can preserve a degree of serenity; we can hold onto our humanity, vigor, and zest for life. We can love and laugh.

Because we believe in our collective resilience, we take a humorous, and at times irreverent, approach to conquering anxiety. Our message is based on sound, scientifically proven methods. But we don’t bore you with the scientific details. Instead, we present a clear, rapid-fire set of strategies for beating back anxiety and winning the war against worry.

We have three goals in writing this book. First, we want you to understand just what anxiety is and some of the different forms it can take. Second, we think that knowing what’s good about anxiety and what’s bad about it is useful for you. Finally, we cover what you’re probably most interested in — discovering the latest techniques for overcoming your anxiety and helping someone you care about who has anxiety.